


Bonds of Brotherhood

by Xylianna



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Angst, Family Dynamics, Gen, One Shot, World of Balance, coin toss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 05:45:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14664516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xylianna/pseuds/Xylianna
Summary: Edgar and Sabin discuss that fateful coin toss from their youth.





	Bonds of Brotherhood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ceruleanhail](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceruleanhail/gifts).



> Written for a prompt on Tumblr: "I'd like an Edgar and Sabin fic, a fluffy sibling bonding fic~ I'd leave their activities to u, but would love the two-face coin toss to be touched, whether it was mentioned out of joke or cause some form of early awkwardness or Sabin forgiving Edgar for it."
> 
> I've always thought the forgiveness should go the other way around, and that is addressed in this short fic. Unbeta'd, sorry for my mistakes. <3

Walking the ramparts of the castle when he couldn’t sleep had become a habit as familiar and subconscious as breathing. So much had happened in the last weeks that Edgar wasn’t surprised he was plagued by insomnia. First Locke arrived with the Empire’s Magitek girl, then the Empire right on their heels in the form of Kefka and his toadies. Narrowly escaping, they’d fled on chocobo seeking refuge in South Figaro, and since then… Triad, so much had happened Edgar could hardly keep the sequence of events unjumbled in his mind.

But it had all led him back here, back home. That was comfortable; that was familiar. The oddity?

Sabin was here.

His brother who had left the castle mere days after their father’s passing, not so much as writing over the years apart, had been as caught up in this web of adventure as Edgar himself.

They hadn’t had a chance to talk. How could they, when their little band of merry women and men was just barely managing to stay one step ahead of the Empire’s forces? And tomorrow would be another long day of it, so Edgar really should try to get some sleep. Perhaps a sleeping draught would do the trick; gracious only knew his brain wasn’t going to quiet itself anytime soon.

“Brother!” Sabin’s inimitable voice, somehow disgustingly cheerful despite the late hour, called out to him just as Edgar was making his way to the door inside. “Wait up!”

Edgar stopped and turned, leaning against the parapet as he watched Sabin approach. The years on the mountain had changed his twin brother in obvious ways. He was so muscular it almost seemed absurd, and his skin was lined with the scars of his training. His hair, once as bright and silken as Edgar’s own, had been lightened by the long exposure to the sun, cut short and tied into a stubby ponytail that Edgar suspected was due to Sabin simply not wishing to take the time to get it cut on a more regular basis. That hair was typically windswept, and his royal garb had been traded in for loose cotton trousers and a tank top.

As he waited for Sabin to start talking, Edgar felt a flare of anger. His brother had gotten the freedom to choose his path, to spend it how he wished. Even as Edgar had recognized all those years ago that the life of a ruler would slowly kill Sabin’s spirit, he couldn’t help but feel a little resentful over the way things had turned out. Sure, Edgar would give his all for his people, do his duty and protect them as best he could. He felt he was a fair and equitable monarch, especially considering the constant strain of being ‘allies’ with Vector, with the Empire.

But part of him wished he’d been the one to run off, Sabin had been the one to step up and be responsible.

Ah, well. No sense in dwelling on the past.

As the minutes continued to tick away, Edgar pulled a coin from his pocket and rolled it between his fingers. It was a nervous tick he’d picked up during diplomatic meetings, a way to let out some of his pent up anxious energy without acting out-of-bounds.

“You kept that all these years?” Sabin said gruffly, reaching out to pluck the coin from Edgar’s hand.

Edgar glanced at his brother sidelong, watching Sabin flip the coin over several time, studying their embossed images. Edgar had had it commissioned on a lark - it was one of a matching set, but he figured Sabin hadn’t even bothered taking his with him when he left for Mount Kolts.

But Sabin surprised him, slipping a calloused hand into his belt pouch and withdrawing the matching coin.

Edgar felt tears burn at his eyes and he blinked them away as best he could. “So did you,” he said in a voice gravelly with emotion.

“Of course I did,” Sabin said, voice matter-of-fact. “You were always with me, brother, even though we were apart.” He leaned against the rampart and looked out over the desert, the sands muted in the glow of the moonlight. “I know you don’t understand why I did what I did. I know you think I was selfish to do it. But everything I did… I did it for you. For Figaro.”

Edgar’s laugh was a harsh rasp cutting through the peace of the night. “For Figaro? Really?” his voice was strident and mocking. “Oh yes, you did so _very_ much for our kingdom, sequestered away in that monastery.”

“Don’t you get it?” Sabin yelled. “I had to get stronger! Even then, the Empire was tightening its noose on the free world.” He shoved a hand roughly through his snarled, oily hair. “How could I protect our people? Protect _you_?”

“I didn’t need you to protect me!” Edgar shouted, turning to face his brother head-on. His eyes met those so similar to his - yet so different. Shades of experience colored Sabin’s gaze, so different from what Edgar saw when he looked in the mirror. “I needed you to help me!”

He began to pace, his feet loud on the stone beneath as he stomped out his frustration. “You don’t know how hard it was those first years after Father died. On one front, I had the Empire, masking conquest attempts with overtures of friendship. On the other, Narshe, asserting that they would never ally with anyone who sided with Gestahl. I had hard choices to make _every damn day_. I had _no_ peace. Even with my own staff! ‘Why aren’t you married yet, Your Majesty?’ ‘My daughter is of age to breed, my King.’ ‘Surely you wish to continue the royal line, my Liege?’” Edgar’s chuckle was as bitter as the coffee they’d recently begun to plant and brew in the desert kingdom, finally getting the mix of arable soils right.

“But _you_!” Edgar stopped pacing and whirled around with a dramatic flourish of his azure cape, glaring at his brother. “You had _freedom_!” He realized he was screaming, and hoped the guards wouldn’t converge on their location. “ _You got to live_!”

Sabin was quiet a long moment, and then he sighed. He pressed his hands together before him and bowed at the waist. “I’m sorry, Edgar. I did as I thought was best. I hope you can forgive me… someday.”

Edgar’s laughter turned rueful. “You were a boy, Sabin. What did you know of matters, truly? I forgave you long ago. But sometimes…” he trailed off, casting his eyes out over the shifting sands. “Sometimes it’s hard when I think about the possibilities.”

“So think about the here and now,” Sabin said firmly. “My master taught me to live each day in the moment; to tackle each ordeal as if it’s your only challenge in life.” His face was stern, resolved. “And that’s what we’ll do now… together with your friends.” He laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll face down the Empire once and for all… and we’ll win.”

And in that moment - Edgar believed him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are love!
> 
> Flail with me on [Tumblr](https://xylianna.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
